In your own words, describe the meaning of marginal cost. You normally buy a crate of wine for $75. One crate has 6 bottles of wine. After a month, the store clerk informs you that the same crate of wine now costs $82. However, there are 7 bottles in a crate. To the nearest cent, determine the marginal cost for one additional bottle of wine now.
75 / 6 = 12.5
82 / 7 = 11.71
The marginal cost refers to the additional cost incurred when producing or obtaining one additional unit of a specific item. In this case, the marginal cost is the cost of obtaining one additional bottle of wine.
To determine the marginal cost for one additional bottle of wine in this scenario, we need to compare the cost of two different situations: the original crate with 6 bottles and the new crate with 7 bottles.
First, let's calculate the cost per bottle for the original crate:
Original cost of the crate = $75
Number of bottles in the original crate = 6
Cost per bottle = Original cost of the crate / Number of bottles
Cost per bottle = $75 / 6 ≈ $12.50
Next, let's calculate the cost per bottle for the new crate:
New cost of the crate = $82
Number of bottles in the new crate = 7
Cost per bottle = New cost of the crate / Number of bottles
Cost per bottle = $82 / 7 ≈ $11.71
Now, we can determine the marginal cost for one additional bottle by subtracting the cost per bottle for the original crate from the cost per bottle for the new crate:
Marginal cost = Cost per bottle for new crate - Cost per bottle for original crate
Marginal cost = $11.71 - $12.50 ≈ -$0.79
To the nearest cent, the marginal cost for one additional bottle of wine now is approximately -$0.79. This negative value indicates a decrease in cost per bottle, suggesting that the price for an additional bottle has decreased compared to the original situation.